<p>True, sseamom, but it seems that we are REALLY quick to play the blame game on the media and retail. Advertising has always been there and is usually directed at a select audience. I just think at age 16 kids should have the maturity/ability to be selective about what is right/wrong and healthy/not healthy about a lot of things. And that the message they SEE and HEAR at home is one that emphasizes healthy not “perfection”.</p>
<p>Kids of the age of 16 generally do NOT have the maturity or the ability to be selective about these things. When your world is riddled with these messages, right and wrong blurs. </p>
<p>Ah, but abasket, they don’t suddenly start hearing the messages at 16. Thy are bombarded with them from the time they first notice ads and TV and magazines. What little kid hasn’t looked at a magazine in the doctor’s office, or walked into the room when the TV is on, or seen billboards and been in stores? None, of course. They ALL see and hear this stuff. If every kid could just shrug it all off as make-believe, we wouldn’t have the problems with body image that we do. </p>
<p>While some kids even younger than 16 are good at knowing where fiction blurs reality, most aren’t. Advertisers and entertainment people take great care in manipulating us. It’s what they get paid to do, and do well. Do you really believe that anyone with sense can just turn a blind eye? Because if that was the case, all those people would go out of business. </p>
<p>Jennifer Lawrence is considered obese in Hollywood.
Let’s face it, that place is simply not real life and I understand they need to be reed thin to look good on the big screen. </p>
<p>When was the last time you saw someone in a dress and wondered, “I wonder what size that dress is?”</p>
<p>Well, I respectfully disagree that kids of age 16 (not all of course) don’t have the maturity to be selective about what they believe and see in the media. If so, it’s amazing that more freshman don’t flunk out/drop out/drink themselves out of college - after all, only two years before they couldn’t read a magazine and conceptualize that they are still beautiful and desirable to look at even if they are not skinny/wearing revealing clothing/made up with all the best products!!!</p>
<p>Sarcasm aside, what I’m really trying to say is this. What I read earlier in this thread is excuses/theories for young people to feel pressure to be thin/dressed to the nines/having perfect body parts/not leaving the house in full makeup. I just feel that as parents with kids still living in our homes it has to be our job - from a very, very young age to set the tone, be the example, point out the deceptiveness in advertising, etc. </p>
<p>Example: Remember all the toy commercials at the holiday time??? EVERY toy looks like the coolest toy ever that can do AMAZING things (most of the time NOT!) and would make a kids life complete if that toy was in their possession. As preschoolers we had talks at home about those toys, the fact that in real life you will never get that car to flip in the air like the commercial or that that Barbie Jeep will not move that fast or well on our bumpy sidewalks - or whatever the gimmick was. My kids could assimilate this info and it helped them to be better consumers. More realistic. So I just think as parents our job is exactly that - to start at a young age to make our kids better consumers of information, products, lifestyle, etc. so that they are more confident and realistic in their decisions as they get older - BECAUSE advertising, media, peer pressure - will always be there - we have to help them develop filters and not just blame the business end of it.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Jennifer Lawrence SAYS she is considered obese in Hollywood - it was a comment she made about herself. She also says that she eats whatever she wants, including junk food, and doesn’t worry about her weight. Judging from recent photos none of this is actually true - she’s now just as painfully thin as any other young actress. I think this mixed message is part of what is wrong - most celebrities won’t admit that they starve and really work to keep their weight down, so regular women and girls don’t realize that for many it’s a life of near starvation to look that way. I just read a story about Princess Diana - she had a fat-free version of a very rich mousse dessert served to herself and the full-fat version served to Oprah, who was reportedly AMAZED at how Diana could stay so thin eating such rich food.</p>
<p>I would guess that jennifer Lawrence has twenty pounds on many actresses. To me, she looks like a normal,healthy weight. Not too skinny, not too heavy. </p>
<p>I don’t live in the same area as Bevhills but I do live in an area where young girls strive to be thin. My D says one thing she loves about her college is that people aren’t as obsessed about weight and what they wear. At home she feels heavy at school she feels normal.
I find with my girls how they feel when trying on clothes is directly related to how they are feeling about themselves in life. If things are good they can shrug off the oddity of sizes as it is not me but the difference in different brands. When they are in a funk the same pair of jeans or whatever can lead to frustration and tears.</p>
<p>I remember when my D went to Disneyland for the birthday of a friend. I think they were 12 or 13. They had lunch at a fast food stand and my D came home and told us how 2 of them ordered chicken strips and fries the birthday girl and Mom had salad. She told us at how the mother made a comment about her own weight after she ate 3 fries.</p>
<p>Regarding sizes, it used to be the case that bridal clothing came in “junior” sizes, so women with adult forms would wear a much larger size than they would in “misses” clothing.</p>
<p>But when many women get married, arent they in junior sizes?
I had a 24" waist, and my hips were only 10" bigger! </p>
<p>Bridal clothing coming in junior sizes just boggles my mind. I haven’t been able to wear a juniors size in like 7 years, and I have a 24in waist and about 34in hips. They don’t fit in the hips or in the bust-- definitely not in the bust at all. </p>
<p>I think I wore a 5 then.
My wedding dress wasn’t very fitted.
Jessica McClintock .
It was the dress in my size that looked the most like a wedding dress on the sale rack at Frederick & Nelson.
It won by default. It didn’t have to be my favorite thing as I was only planning to wear it once. </p>
<p>This obsession with weight and thinness drives me nuts. So much mental energy wasted. </p>
<p>Sad story: my MIL remained obsessed with weight and whether or not she ate "good"or “bad” foods----and we aren’t talking broccoli here—until the day she died. We would go out to eat and she would order salad but then be so hungry and tempted she would steal fries off of everyone else’s plate. </p>
<p>I say this as a woman who isn’t always happy with her weight or how she looks. Mostly I am these days, but I wasn’t happy in my teens and twenties even though I was quite slim. But please oh please, don’t let me be afraid to eat french fries for the next thirty years! </p>
<p>Those of you with daughters: is it easier with more sports opportunities?</p>
<p>Yes.My oldest wasnt interested in team sports, but she did ballet with PNB ( until I saw that the older girls smoked to curb their appetite), then she moved to other types of dance & horseback riding.
Youngest played soccer, rugby, basketball, volleyball and was on the track & swim teams.
We went xcountry skiing as a family every year as well. ( H & youngest are the downhill skiers in the family)
Now they both run. Youngest more competitive.</p>